A Brief History

Turvey Abbey belongs to the Vita et Pax Foundation, founded by Dom Constantine Bosschaerts. From the very beginning he wanted his monasteries to be places where people of all denominations and even all faiths would feel at home. In the early 1920s this applied mainly to East-West Christian relations, and to Christian-Jewish dialogue. The young Foundation was known for its work in these areas and especially in East-West dialogue.

Later years saw the dawning of Interreligious dialogue in a wider sense, with Buddhists, Hindus, and more recently Muslims. The Turvey Abbey communities are deeply concerned to work and pray for a growth of unity of understanding between Roman Catholic Christians and people of other Faiths, and an acknowledgement of the deep unity that already exists among all humankind, created in the image and likeness of the one God.

DIMMID
Dialogue Interreligieux Monastique / Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (DIMMID) is an international monastic organisation that promotes and supports dialogue, especially dialogue at the level of religious experience and practice, between Christian monastic men and women and followers of other religions.
For more information, please visit the DIMMID website:

Contacts with Buddhists and Muslims

Both communities are on friendly terms with the Buddhist communities of Amaravati and Chithurst. Monks and nuns have attended each other’s monastic ceremonies of profession (Christian) and ordination (Buddhist). There have also been individual visits for periods of rest and retreat.